RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 2205 AD on a large family estate near Viminacium, Lexia ascended to prominence as the senator instrumental in ending the cyborg wars. She also leads a dual life in the narcotic-fueled underworld of interdimensional cyber raves. By day, the diligent diplomat and servant of Rome; by night, the pursuit of ecstasy among a coterie of anti-imperial aliens, vampires and time travelers.
Born in 355 AD on the shores of the Black Sea, Hilda Cixilo was raised in blood by warrior parents who trained them in battles against the Huns. After collecting 80 heads in the Battle of Adrianople, Hilda went on to distinguish herself in Mastaura as an undefeated gladiator.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
Born in 181 AD in Osaka, Ojin was a Samurai sent on an intelligence gathering mission to Rome who decided to stay and join the Roman legion in the fight against the rising Vampire and Zombie menace in Dacia.
Born 211 BC in Pergamon, Artox was a harpastum player who later became a champion of the cyber x-games after being transported to the 33rd century AD by an unknown entity.
Born in 51 AD in Virunum, Acca, the daughter of a Roman general and a servant woman, was raised in the Second Legion and became a fiercely loyal soldier for the Flavian Emperors. It is said that Acca died attempting to prevent the assassination of Domitian.
Born 470 AD in Augusta Suessionum, Nebia served as a handmaid to Queen Clotilde before her life took a dramatic turn. Encountered by a stranger from another dimension, she was awakened to her telekinetic powers and recruited for a war against alien cyborg overlords. Now, from behind a terminal screen in the dimly lit chambers of a futuristic cave stronghold, she manipulates the simulacrum of her past existence.
Born in 259 AD in Sarmizegetusa, Wynni was a soldier in the Vandal army that lost to Probus at the Lech river and were exiled to Britain. Seeking revenge, she entered an interdimensional portal at Stonehenge and returned decades later with advanced tactics and equipment to defeat the Roman imperialists once and for all.
Born 211 AD in Sirmium, Dug is a former slave who leads a motley crew of interdimensional rebels that travel through space time to revel in epicurean delights and wreak havoc on opulent patrician elites, embodying a spirit of defiance and indulgence across the multiverse.
Born 50 BC in Gordium, as a young woman Xyria was kidnapped by time traffickers to serve as a hostess in a 26th century karaoke bar in Neo-Byzantium where she learned how to make a living trading secrets.
Robovid XLV is an advanced cybernetic model created by Vitruvian Systems of the Eternal Dominion that infiltrates human society by masquerading as key individuals across multiple dimensions in order to manipulate the system from within. This particular model is trained in advanced rhetoric and tuned for relentless ambition to be deployed at the highest echelons of society.
Born 213 BC in Rome, Cambria and her sister Ursula were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Cambria, who had a history of brawling in the streets in her youth, was installed by her patrician father as a military commander in a reserve unit to keep her busy and out of trouble.
Born 170 BC in Damascus, Daro is a bastard son of Antiochus IV and a time-traveling geisha from the 22nd century. Now, Daro travels across dimensions in search of his biological mother.
Born in 303 BC in Scythian Neapolis, not much is known about Suzy Sparthra other than she is a dimension-hopping Amazonian gladiatrix who battles in the 28th century AD cybercolosseums with a war harpoon and a 9mm watergun loaded with superacid.
Born 123 BC on the mystical isle of Læsø, Sigrid comes from an advanced tribe of wealthy salt barons with access to interdimensional travel. When not gallivanting through the future, she spends her time training champion ‘golden retriever’ canines on her remote, bucolic island paradise.
